"McKinnick to base camp!" he roared into his comm as freezing sleet swirled around him. His beard, shaggy and greying had long lost its russet tones under a layer of accumulating ice and grit. He could just make out the crackle of a reply which he took to be acknowledgement of his own comm. "We're pinned down, base camp! Three to beam out!"Nothing happened for several seconds. Worried glances passed between his two team-mates but he stayed confident as all three remained huddled behind a gigantic boulder, left over from the planet's last ice age. The scant shelter was all that was preventing them from blowing off the side of the hill.

Eventually, the high-pitched whine of a transporter lock made it through the thick layers of hood and hat, and seconds later, all three rematerialised inside of base camp. McKinnick stood up and stretched, his back cracking pleasingly after so long in the biting cold. "Aye..." he said by way of greeting, shaking the melting ice off his clothing as he walked past the Administrator, leaving a healthy sized trail of water behind, "...I'd fairly say that's worse than last year...""And worse than the year before that, and the year before that, and the decade before that... We've past the tipping point, Doctor McKinnick ," the Administrator agreed, his squeeky voice sounding uncomfortable to the planetologist's ears in such a small space."Aye" the doctor replied solemnly."Will you recommend intervention now?" the Administrator asked worriedly. It had been years since they had begun to ask for assistance on Ira V. At first, the Federation had pledged to help however they could and a trickle of equipment; shelters, emergency medical prefabs, hypothermia units, clothing, and most importantly, food replicators, began to appear. But that had been over fifty years previously and Administrator Gol knew his history. He knew the weather was worsening every year, the growing season shortening as the ice took a greater chunk of the poles and reduced both the tillable land and the temperature in the atmosphere. He also knew that as earnest as the Federation was, whenever it had its own problems to deal with, less attention was paid to Ira V's plight and the supply lines became at best patchy, at worst, non-existent. "My people need help..." he pressed as the two men entered the board room."Aye, that they do..." McKinnick said. "Your planet is entering a new ice age, and every indication is that it won't be a short one like we'd hoped. Ira V will become an iceball, the ice sheets extending and reflecting your sun's rays back into space instead of helping to warm the planet itself." Doctor McKinnick shook his head and leaned on the boardroom table, dripping ice-water on the beautifully polished surface and ruining it forever. The Administrator winced and said nothing. What difference did it make, now?"Will... you recommend our proposal?" Gol pressed timidly.McKinnick shoved himself off the table and strode out of the room with purpose. "Aye..." he replied.

Captain Suder, congratulations to you and your crew for a job well done on Janus 6. The data you have transmitted to Starfleet Science will be reviewed, and a suitable programme of aid will be forwarded to the Horta in sort order.

We have a new assignment for you. It appears the situation on Ira 4 has worsened. A Starfleet planetology team has been to assess the stricken world and have concluded that far from this cold spell being of short duration, it is now believed to be the beginning of a long and devastating ice age brought on by an excess of white ice, reflecting solar energy harmlessly back into space.

Ira 4 is populated by 3.2 billion Ira'i, and with the rapidly expanding polar ice sheets and the concurrent drop in ambient temperatures, these people are finding themselves pushed closer to the equator with each winter season. This is causing conflict over land and resources, as well as adding to the misery of those forced to leave their homes.

As we have pledged our help these past 50 years, it is time something be done to relieve the Ira'i of this burden.

You are ordered to pick up Doctor McKinnick and his team on Sigma Rho station, and proceed directly with them and their equipment to Ira 4. The doctor has several suggestions that he believes are worth reviewing, and as he is our foremost authority in planetary regeneration, I expect you to listen to his advise and decide on a course of action accordingly. Please prep your science and engineering teams to aid in his efforts.

Additionally, you are tasked with getting relief to some of the worse-affected peoples on the planet. You will be loaded up with food replicators, temporary shelters and medical equipment. See that they are distributed fairly.

The U.S.S. Hooke has been assigned to provide relief to the inhabitants of Ira IV. After a long and grueling settlement period, what was once thought to be a slight change in temperature has turned into the beginning of their next ice age. With 3.2 billion people currently inhabiting the planet, this is obviously going to become a problem for them.

There are some issues arising from this, noticeably tensions amongst local inhabitants regarding land and resources, so our task is to provide relief in the form of replicators, medical supplies, temporary shelters and also to provide the Science teams there with any assistance they need to improve the situation on Ira IV.

We'll be rendezvousing with Doctor McKinnick on Station Sigma Rho and taking his staff and their equipment with us. We're to give all possible aid where appropriate, and assist in any way we can with their efforts.

XO: Commander, please see what strings you can pull at Sigma Rho to get their cargo transporters for us to use. There are going to be a lot of supplies and the sooner we set out, the sooner we can help to Ira'i.

CEO: Tony, see what you can do to integrate Doctor McKinnick's equipment with the Hooke's systems. We have the Habitation pod attached to the rollbar, giving us some pretty impressive geological sensor arrays and a lot more cargo space, I would suggest that the team set up in there.

CTO: I've been reviewing xenobiological surveys from Ira IV and with the expanding ice shelf and the lowering of temperatures, it's driving wild animals further south. On top of that, the increase in hostilities among the Ira'i make me worried. I want heavy security teams with our relief efforts on the planet, please work with Commander Jameson to coordinate everything.

TAC: Ensign, i'd like you to work with Doctor McKinnick personally. Please ensure that he has everything he will need, and that if he or his team require transport down to the planet that you're along for the ride. Consider yourself his personal bodyguard.

We'll be arriving at Sigma Rho shortly. All staff prepare for arrival.